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22. Colorado Rockies – If I were the Rockies, I’d trade both Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, who are too injury prone yet have a ton of value. It won’t happen, though.

The Tigers averaged 37.7 total chances per game, while the Cardinals averaged 39.1 and the Yankees averaged 36.5. The teams with the least number of total chances include the Diamondbacks, Rays, Giants, Marlins, Brewers, and Yankees.

After a pretty successful 2005 season with AA Birmingham-he posted a .799 OPS that year-Owens’ production began to decline. He struggled to consistently hit the ball with authority, and in 2008, he picked up just 12 extra-base hits in 351 at-bats with AAA Charlotte, good for a .316 slugging percentage.

Boston has only managed to win five of its last 10 games but it remains just a half a game in back of New york in the most heated division race in the Majors. The Red Sox are 77-49 overall; 38-24 at home and 39-25 on the road.

Cleveland and Chicago had an odd year against each other. The Tribe won five of the first six while the White Sox won five of the last six. In between, the Indians and White Sox split six games for a 9-9 season series.

Not true. In Ruth’s first season in New York, the Yankees went 95-59 and finished in third place, three games behind the Cleveland Indians and one game behind the Chicago sale jerseys. They lost the 1921 series five games to three to the new York Giants and were swept four games to none by the Giants in 1922. They finally won in 1923 (the year that Yankee Stadium opened) by defeating the Giants four games to two.

In a season filled with ups and downs the Sox have a record of 44-48 are are just five games out of first place. This leaves many to wonder if they can turn it around and also what grade would they get going into the second half of the season?

In a season filled with ups and downs the Sox have a record of 44-48 are are just five games out of first place. This leaves many to wonder if they can turn it around and also what grade would they get going into the second half of the season?

My research came up with interesting managerial facts. In 2006, sale jerseys manager Ozzie Gillen sent a young pitcher back to the minor leagues because he failed to properly retaliate after the Texas Ranger pitcher had twice hit Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

However, Owens didn’t show that ability to get on base in his 2007 stint in the majors (.324 OBP) and in 2008 in the minors (.346 OPB). Castillo’s OBPs in the minors: .371, .419, .411, .425, .403, .471. While it’s tough to expect anyone to match up to those gaudy numbers, the fact that Owens’ career OBP numbers in the minors (.365, .393, .333, .361, .348) struggle to come at least close to those numbers with consistency should have been a red flag for the organization.

The Royals (17-11, 10-5 home) maintained a 1-0 lead throughout most of the afternoon, after an RBI double by Billy Butler scored Alex Gordon in the first inning. The Royals outhit the White Sox (13-17, 6-10 away) 9-7.

Erik Bedard is slated to get the start for the Red Sox in this one. He is winless in three starts since coming over from Seattle at the end of July. The left-hander is 4-8 with an ERA of 3.44 in 19 starts this season. Lifetime against the Rangers, Bedard is 4-3 with a 3.22 Era.

They were an impressive two innings of work for Sale. With little to look forward to, he represented the city well. At the break, Sale is fifth in the American League in ERA and Strike outs. On the flip side is record is just 6-8 on the season. That is the result of little run support and a bad team supporting him.

American League Cy Young Award – Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox. I may have been one year too early in predicting John Lester would win this award last year. Then again, if Lester hadn’t gotten off to such a bad start last year (1-2, 4.71 ERA in April), his stats would’ve looked even better than his impressive final stat line of 19-9, 3.20 ERA. If Lester can get off to a fast start for a change (4.58 career ERA in April), anywhere between 20-23 wins is a possibility considering the revamped Red Sox lineup, the speedy outfield, and the improved (at least on paper) bullpen.

Danks’ located his fastball with perfection, keeping it down in the zone and right on the corners of the strike zone. His cutter jammed Twins hitters all day, and his changeup and curveball kept them off-balance. Under the circumstances, it was the best outing of Danks’ career without a doubt.

Simply put, Harrell doesn’t strike out enough opponents while walking too many. He appeared in eight games-three starts-with the 2010 White Sox and hardly looked impressive in those 24 innings, walking 17 and striking out 15. Like Humber, Harrell has been mediocre in triple-A, posting FIPs of 4.34 and 4.46 in 2009 and 2010 with Charlotte. Harrell doesn’t have much-if any-edge over Humber, and that’s not saying a whole lot.

Zach Miner, who will get the ball for the hometown team Monday, went 2-1 against Chicago in 2008, posting a 3.94 ERA in five appearances against the Sox.

So, in other words, maybe we’ll see Matt Thornton used in high-leverage situations in the seventh or eighth inning, allowing Sergio Santos, sale jerseys or Jesse Crain to close out lower-leverage situations in the ninth. Whether that actually happens or not remains to be seen-Williams isn’t the manager, after all-but if the Sox do employ this leverage-based strategy, it’ll go a long way toward maximizing bullpen success.

New York is only bringing Rodriguez back because it has few other healthy offensive weapons left. But if the Yankees are hoping against hope that the 38-year-old third baseman will jump start the rest of the lineup, it didn’t come true on this first night. After getting a bloop single in his first at-bat, he was hitless the rest of the game.

Second baseman Gordon Beckham is expected to improve on his rookie year and second year numbers. Catcher A. J. Pierzynski handles the pitching staff well with veteran leadership but also is consistent at the plate, often coming through in the clutch. Young catcher Tyler Flowers may start to press Pierzynski for playing time this season.

To that point, Detroit’s own trio of relievers have equaled the task, as Ryan Perry, Fernando Rodney, and Bobby Seay have also gone 7.1 innings without yielding a run.

I suppose Quentin may actually be a slightly better choice at No. 3, but all things considered, Rios is fine for the three hole. The book says a team’s No. 3 hitter should actually be filled by its fifth-best hitter, and Rios is right in that range. Mainly, it’s good Konerko’s production won’t be wasted on hitting third-he’s much better suited to hit fifth behind Dunn.

These tough pitching arms have been backed by excellent defense this season. The Southsiders have quietly been the second best fielding team in the MLB.

18. Toronto Blue Jays – The blue Jays plan to give it another run with all of the veterans they acquired last offseason, but what other choice do they really have?

16. Arizona Diamondbacks – The Diamondbacks looked like a playoff team until the second half of the season. They need to improve that starting rotation to be a true contender.

Acquired from the Rockies in 2009 for Jose Contreras, Hynick will be 26 March 7 and had a 5.79 FIP in Charlotte last season. He’s a non-roster invitee, making him just about as much a longshot as 40-man roster members Cofield and Jones.

I find it interesting to see that the 1921-22 New york Yankees made the list. When they acquired Babe Ruth from the Red Sox, a baseball fan’s first thought after all the home runs and the “House that Ruth Built” is that the Yankees immediately dominated major league baseball in the Roaring Twenties after that ill-fated trade by Boston.

Putouts: The Tigers ranked 13th in total putouts with 4,333. The sale jerseys were ahead of the Tigers with 4,339 and the Yankees were behind the Tigers with 4,327. The top teams in putouts were the Giants (4,383), Red Sox, Phillies and Padres were tied, Rangers, Cardinals and Rays were tied, Mets and Reds were tied, Twins, Angels, sale jerseys and Tigers. The team with the least number of putouts was the Pittsburgh Pirates with 4,235.

Hiroki Kuroda gave a valiant effort on the mound, but once again still was not quite as good as the Yankees would have liked for him to be. He worked out of multiple jams, but still gave up four runs on seven hits and a pair of walks over 6 1/3 innings and did not factor into the decision.